how to antique a gold gilded mirror

Hello friends!  Showing a quick trick and technique today on how to antique a gold framed mirror using dark furniture wax.  It worked like a charm and it was super easy.

Remember this mirror we purchased last year, which I shared here{mirror, mirror on the wall}?  I loved all the details and profile and size and price and everything about this mirror except the brash finish on the gold gilding.

It came home with us and we immediately hung it over our living room mantel, but I was not totally satisfied because of the bold gold finish.  I wanted a frame that looked like it was a hundred years old and had stories to tell.

I have attempted a couple of techniques but nothing really worked and I was also super apprehensive not to ruin the frame all together.  So it was a tricky balancing act between altering the frame but not ruining it.

Before lock down and when the world stopped turning I was lucky to find myself in an establishment that was an Annie Sloane stockist.  I loaded up on some paint cans for furniture projects and along with the paint I picked up some clear and dark wax.

A few weeks ago I finally decided to give the dark wax a go.  I don’t know why I waited so long!  It worked like a charm.

I just used a rag and applied the dark wax in easy strokes all around the frame.  I went around the entire frame about three times and focused on the top relief areas rather than the nooks and crannies since they already had plenty of dark distressing.

It has toned down the brashness and has more of a subtle presence rather than in your face “here I am” tone.  Here is a before and after to give you some perspective.

I styled the mantel with easy Spring notes with some Pussy Willow branches and a Fitz & Floyd porcelain Easter egg detailed with Lily of the Valley.  I love these adorable, delicate bulbs and I wanted to add them to our front yard remodel but unfortunately my landscape designer did not recommend them for our yard.  Boo.

 The porcelain egg was a purchase on a whim years ago not only because I love Lily of the Valley but because the creaminess of the stand coordinates well with all our Lenox china pieces we received as wedding and engagement gifts.  The Lenox vases are part of the Meridian collection and I use them all the time.  They are timeless to me. 

Some slate and gray pillar candles on the other side of the mirror balance out the mantelscape.

I love how the dark wax “aged” the frame and it did not require much wax nor did it take very long to apply it.  The step that takes the longest is waiting for the wax to cure on the frame before handling it to hang it back up.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”

~Snow White’s Evil Witch~ 

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